Feb. 1885.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



19 



For sonic unknown ivasou llic rest of April is 

 iniirkud by no arlvanci', almost the only record 

 being that after a sudden cold snaji, almost to 

 freezing, about a dozen Martin.s, refugees from 

 the north, crowded into Mr. Widmauu's Martiu- 

 bo.\cs at St. Louis on the night of the 23d, and 

 among them tlie tirst male of last year in a half 

 starved condition. With a twenty degree rise 

 two days after, they were all off again. The first 

 warm wave in May, on the 3d, finds them at 46^3 

 Minnesota, and 47»2 Dakota, while on May 19tli 

 they arrive at Oaii Point, Manitoba, .W". 



To recapitulate, there were one hundred iuid 

 ten ol)servations contributed on tlie movements of 

 the Piirjile Martin. After making a few changes 

 of date where it seems fully warranted, we have 

 forly-nhic |icr cent, agreeing with the maximum 

 of the wa\es; twenty two per cent, on the daj' 

 lietore, seven per cent, the day after, six per cent, 

 mistakes and eleven pcr,ceiit. indeterminate; or 

 in oilier words, seventy-one per cent, agreeing 

 wjtii the waves and only twelve per cent, contra- 

 ry to them. Considering that most of the ob.serv- 

 crs liave had very little i)ractice in making ob- 

 sjrvations, this is a very creditable .showing. 



In the light of the preceding remarks, let us 

 calculate the average speed of migration of this 

 species. It seems prolnible that in the line of 

 migration from New Orleans to Lake Winnipeg, 

 almost Die entire migration took place during the 

 lollowing twelve nights: March lOlh, 2(llh, 2.5th, 

 27lh, April lltli, 12th, 13th, 17th, May 3d, 9th, 

 17tli and llllh. The distance being fourteen hun- 

 dred and folly miles, it gives a speed of one 

 hundred and twenty miles a night for every night 

 of movement. Had each station furnished a 

 record, similar to the one from St. Louis, of every 

 night of decided movement, every night of slight 

 movement, tlie nights of standstill, we could trace 

 tlie ailv.-imc witli great accuracy and take a long 

 forward step in our knowledge of the phenomena 

 of migration. 



The Kentucky Warbler. 



(()j)oniniixfi>n,)i/Kii,) { WHm'/i,) Buird. 

 BY D. K. I, , M.\?<n.\TT.\N, KANS.\S. 



The Kentuckj' Warbler is a common Summer 

 resident of the timbered portion of Kansas, being 

 more abundant in the south-eastern part. Man- 

 hattan is near tlie western lioundary of the range 

 assigned to it by ornithologists, it having been 

 taken at Fort Riley, a point about twenty miles 

 west. Hut it is so common a bird at Manhattan 

 that I doubt not that it is a regular visitor west of 

 Fort Kilcy, wherever the growth of timber and 



underbrush is sufficient to att'ord it its favorite 

 shelter for a Summer home. 



Although the habits of the Kentucky Warbler 

 are well known, and excellent descriptions of its 

 nests and eggs are published, it is so retiring in 

 the breeding season that its eggs have found a way 

 to comjiarativcly few oological collections. My 

 experience is that the nest is difficult to find. I 

 have spent hours in watching .the birds and 

 searching for the nest without success. The tew 

 nests that I have found have been the result of ac- 

 cident rather than the reward of my diligence. 



At this place they arrive from the south about 

 May 1. My earliest record is April 30; my latest 

 is May 3. They soon pair and begin to look 

 about for a building site, at this time the male is a 

 diligent and rather loud singer, and keeps the 

 woods ringing with his "tircedk, twecdle, dtrcedh." 

 If disturbed, both birds resent any ajiiiroacli by 

 their usual sharp " tship" repeated at intervals as 

 long as one continues moving about in their vicin- 

 ity; but should one conceal himself and remain 

 quiet, they disappear noiselessly in the thickets 

 and the song of the male is soon again heard. I 

 presume that the female could be just as musical 

 were she so disposed, but that the cares ot house 

 building occupy most of the time at her disposal. 

 Many a pair of these Warblers have I watched, 

 and although I was certain that the nest was in 

 the near vicinity, I have almost uniformly failed 

 to discover it. Once, after visiting a locality at 

 odd times for several weeks, I really found the 

 nest ; but the young had just deserted it. In fact, 

 I started the last one away. This was on .June 

 20, 1883. The nest was almost under the top of 

 a fallen tree. It was built in plain view at the 

 foot of a small shnib. Although I must have 

 passed a dozen times within a few feet, I had failed 

 to discover it. It was on the ground in a mass of 

 dry leaves. The chief material was leaves, but 

 the lining was of grass and long horse-hair. It 

 was the most neatly built nest of the species I 

 have yet seen. 



My first nest of this Warbler was found on May 

 26, 1883. I was passing along an unused wood- 

 rtiad in a low, damp forest, intent upon finding a 

 Poor-will which had alighted in the vicinity, 

 when I was startled by the flutter of wings at my 

 feet. On looking down, I .saw within a foot of 

 me the nest for which I had ofteir looked. The 

 female Warbler had jierched upon a low branch 

 about two rods distant and was tilting and bal- 

 ancing like a Water-thrush, while it uttered its 

 sharp note of alarm. The nest contained two 

 eggs of the Warbler and one of the Cow-bird. 

 Ab.hough incubation had begun, I left the nest 

 two da3's hoping to be rewarded with a larger 



